Friday, September 25, 2009

An Old Homestead on the Aberdeen & Jacinto Public Road

About thirty years ago I took this photo of the old Hugh and Eliza Gregory house on the old Aberdeen and Jacinto Road north of Walton Cemetery. Located at an old crossroads this home was of log construction. The old home was torn down not long after the photograph was taken.

I wonder how many viewing this photo realizes that the small roofed addition in front of the porch covered the well. I spotted the windlass in the very front. For all who have never experienced drawing a bucket of water from such wells,the large round "thing" is the windlass and the rope for hauling the water out of the well is wound around the windlass (and a person can get knocked unconscious if the handle is turned loose because it will go sailing back down to the end of the rope before the windlass stops unwinding!), let me tell you the water was cool and clear (unless a 'city slicker' had never had the pleasure of a freshly drawn bucket of water for one dipper of water to drink and dumped the whole bucket of water back into the well) - a no-no because this stirred that well water up for some hours! Grandmother Kate Robinson Stone's nephew and new bride (the city slicker in this case) drove out from Dallas to visit his kinfolks in Bexar/Shottsville and saw her first old fashioned well ( I was about 9 years old). My grandmother would put her milk in a large mason jar along with her butter and set it into the bucket and lower it carefully into the well to keep it cool on a hot summer day when the iceman was late in arriving at her house. To prevent someone from dumping these "dairy products" accidentally, she had a system of fastening the rope to prevent some careless grandchild who wanted to play in the well house from causing the milk and butter from ending up in the water. And we have people who yearn for the "good old days?", I think not. bettye

I would also suspect that this shed also covered the "laundry room of that era", but the wash tubs aren't seen because the well is hiding this part of what is under this cover - I admit that in the lean to fashion of the roof, it looks like this might be a carport! Forget that notion, the horseless carriage was years away.

I agree Tracy and Aberdeen. You have an eye for detail Bettye! I was wondering if anyone would notice the covered well. That well had the best cold water during the summer. The elderly lady who lived there kept a dipper out by the well and would always offer you some water.

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